https://www.vodacom.com/news-article.php?articleID=7591

Monday, 14 December 2020

DURBAN – Vodacom KwaZulu-Natal Region announced today that it is rolling-out the fastest and latest, fifth generation (5G) network in key municipal districts in KwaZulu-Natal province. The 5G network is currently available on 156 live 5G sites across the KwaZulu-Natal province and supports both mobile and fixed wireless access services. Vodacom customers with 5G enabled devices, and within a 5G coverage area, are now able to access the new 5G network in KwaZulu-Natal. Critically, the latest mobile networking technology will ultimately help the region bridge the digital divide between the urban and rural areas of the province by extending access to affordable mobile broadband, especially as an alternative to fiber connectivity in underserviced township areas.

In May, Vodacom switched on South Africa’s first live 5G mobile network in three cities – Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town. This network supports both mobile and fixed wireless services and is currently available in Gauteng and in Cape Town. Vodacom will accelerate 5G network rollout after additional 5G spectrum is auctioned at the end of March 2021.

To launch the 5G network in KwaZulu Natal, Vodacom used the temporary spectrum assigned by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), including 1×50 MHz in the 3.5 GHz, 2x10MHz and 700MHz. Vodacom has decided to use the 700 MHz band for wide scale mobile, 5G coverage and is supplementing network capacity with 3.5 GHz where required.

Read more at: https://www.vodacom.com/news-article.php?articleID=7591

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Posted on February 5, 2020

After a significant partnership last year that expanded its business, Vodacom Group Chief Executive Shameel Joosub announced on Tuesday (Feb. 4) that the company will collaborate with Liquid Telecom to bring 5G mobile services to South Africa.

Starting this year, the two companies will offer customers joint 5G mobile services. Mobile consumers in the country are frustrated by delays in the availability of the necessary, more robust infrastructure to allow much faster telecommunications than 4G networks.

“We expect to be able to launch 5G services in South Africa this year,” Vodacom’s Joosub said in a statement. “This is possible thanks to a recent roaming agreement with Liquid Telecom, as 5G spectrum is largely unassigned in South Africa.”

Vodacom previously launched a 5G mobile service in Lesotho, a smaller country on the continent. Joosub also revealed the company’s expansion Tanzania would be impeded because of a regulatory matter that caused 1.7 million customers to be disconnected. Those customers, he said, will be brought back into the network once they have submitted to a necessary biometric registration.

Read more at:

https://www.pymnts.com/news/international/2020/5g-services-to-come-to-s-africa-this-year-vodacom-says/

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